Director, Graduate Scholars Program

Praxis, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); Remote; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Veritas Forum in the United States seeks a Director for the Graduate Scholars Program to plan, execute, and assess the annual conference, coordinate venues, contracts, and schedules, and lead year-round development for PhD students.

You will report to the Associate VP, work with the Veritas Scholars Program team, recruit mentors and mentees, build partnerships with mission-aligned ministries, and track outcomes and budget targets to measure impact.

Qualifications

• A PhD and relevant administrative experience (e.g. organizational or management work in a lab or professional experience prior to your PhD program in program building, operations, or events) OR
• Bachelor Degree and 5+ years of demonstrated professional success in operations, program building, event planning, or people management

Responsibilities

• Plan, execute, and evaluate the annual graduate conference including venue coordination and contracts
• Design and implement year-round graduate scholar development work and mentorship handoffs
• Collaborate with Veritas leadership on content, mentor relationships, and alignment with Veritas Summit
• Track outcomes and budget targets with the development and finance teams

Skills

PhD or admin exp

Program management

Event planning

Mentorship programs

Budgeting

Education

PhD

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Director, Graduate Scholars Program

The Graduate Scholars Program, a subdivision of the Veritas Scholars Program, invests in the formation of Christian scholars at the Ph.D. student stage. The core of the Graduate Scholars Program consists of an annual summer conference (launching a series of discipline-based year-long mentoring cohorts) and a series of year-round graduate scholar development offerings such as virtual panels and seminars, travel grants, and community-building opportunities.

Major Responsibilities

The Director of the Graduate Scholars Program will be responsible for planning, executing, and evaluating the annual graduate conference, including venue coordination and contracting, program and schedule design, mentor and mentee recruitment, attendee experience, and reporting on outcomes. As part of this work, the Director will also lead and oversee all aspects of event planning, logistics, cross-Veritas collaboration, and on-site execution. In addition, the Director of the Graduate Scholars Program will design and implement year-round all graduate scholar development work that doesn’t fall under the category of academic year mentoring, in support of all current and past graduate student mentees.

The Director of the Graduate Scholars Program will report directly to the Associate Vice President of the Veritas Scholars Program with targeted administrative support from the Veritas Scholars Program team and half-time assistance from the Program Coordinator of the Graduate Scholars Program. This role will also collaborate closely with the Vice President of the Veritas Scholars Program on content, mentor relationships, and alignment with the Veritas Scholars Summit.

The Director of the Graduate Scholars Program’s major responsibilities will include the following:

• Work with the Vice President and Associate Vice President of Scholars Program to determine disciplines for mentorship, recruit mentors, manage the relationships with and deployment of mentor teams, and maintain mission and content alignment between Scholars Summit and Graduate Conference
• Work with the Vice President and Associate Vice President of Scholars Program to develop and advance partnerships with mission-aligned ministries and organizations that serve graduate students
• Recruit new PhD mentees into the graduate scholars community through application and admission to the graduate conference
• Work with the Program Coordinator of the Graduate Scholars Program and targeted administrative support to design, plan, and execute all aspects of the annual conference, including program content; coordinate with the Senior Program Manager for Mentorship in handing off mentees into academic year mentoring
• Work with the Program Coordinator of the Graduate Scholars Program and targeted administrative support to design, plan, and execute on all non-mentoring graduate scholar development
• Work with the Associate Vice President, the Development Team, and the Senior Director of Finance to track, evaluate, and report on all program outcomes, including both program commitments and budgetary targets

Work Experience & Skills

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS

• A PhD and relevant administrative experience (e.g. organizational or management work in a lab or professional experience prior to your PhD program in program building, operations, or events) OR
• Bachelor Degree and 5+ years of demonstrated professional success in operations, program building, event planning, or people management

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• A mature Christian faith grounded in the regular disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and fellowship with other believers in the context of a local church, and evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in your life.
• A genuine enthusiasm for investing in the formation of Christian scholars at secular universities. Direct experience with graduate programs is a strength for a candidate, but is not required.
• Facility with financial management, budgeting, and planning
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with all levels of higher education administration, faculty, and students.
• Thrives working in a fast-paced, mission-driven, performance-oriented culture, while being highly entrepreneurial and self-directed.
• Travel. Ability to travel ~15% of the year to work closely with Veritas partners.

SUPPORT A POSITIVE TEAM CULTURE AT VERITAS

• Be a team-oriented and relationally sensitive colleague. Collaborate with Scholars Program team members and the wider Veritas team on a regular basis.
• Own outcomes. Be a self-motivated self-starter who sets clear goals, anticipates problems, perseveres, and holds yourself accountable.
• Get better every day. Welcome the gift of redemptive feedback, never settle in the quest to grow and develop, and make our organization stronger.
• Commit to the role. Dive in every day on the role which should match your passions and skills.

EDUCATION

• Bachelor Degree required.
• Advanced degree is a plus due to the academic setting of the program, but professional experience can substitute for credentials.

Position Overview

Status┃Full-time

Location┃United States - Remote. Must be willing and able to work from home.

Travel Requirements┃15 days each year for Veritas events and training, plus another 10-15 days each year to work closely with Veritas partners.

The Veritas Forum offers benefits and compensation commensurate with experience and competitive with other nonprofit organizations.

To Apply

Interested applicants can apply here. If you have any questions, please email us at [e-mail].

About Veritas

The Veritas Forum partners with Christian thought leaders, professors, and campus fellowships to support the intellectual credibility of Christianity in the university and the broader public sphere. Since its first forum event at Harvard in 1992, Veritas Forums have emerged on more than 200 universities around the world, engaging more than 800,000 students, faculty, and community members. Veritas is propelled by an ambitious vision to see universities become places where the big questions asked by students are not the reason they lose their faith, but the reason they find it.

Driving this vision are three core pillars of work: campus dialogue, community formation, and content engagement. We come alongside students, faculty, and campus ministers to help create Forums on university campuses around the world that invite intellectually curious students and scholars to explore life’s big ideas. In support of this work, we connect, form, and train networks of students and faculty leaders who carry on the conversations through journals and scholarship, and we extend the conversations to global audiences through digital media.

The Veritas Scholars Program, launched in 2020, is an initiative of The Veritas Forum that invests in the next generation of Christian faculty & scholars through mentorship, community building, and direct support. The Program builds on years of Veritas work and research on how to support and serve top-tier universities and faculty.

Our Name

“Veritas” is the Latin word for truth—and a word commonly found in university mottos; it refers to our belief that truth can be sought and found. “Forum” refers to our commitment to creating spaces where ideas can be openly shared and discussed.

Our Beliefs

We are grounded and motivated by the historic Christian faith that seeks to love God and neighbor. We affirm the Nicene Creed and are ecumenical and invitational in our approach.